X-Rank Hunter

"K-kuya..."

A faint voice escaped from the mouth of Elaine as she tried her hardest to raise her weak hand dyed in red towards the back of someone who was a distance away from her and was kneeling on the ground with his body remained upwards.

He was a boy of about five to six years old. And while gazing at him, Elaine had her eyes filled with tears.

How could she not if that someone had her chest being pierced by a long spear?

Around them were many other freshly dead bodies of children like them. And from what it appeared, Elaine was the only one who remained barely alive in this Dark Island.

And now, Elaine couldn't get up anymore. Her little body was full of wounds and was lying with her front facing the ground. Her head was facing in her right direction and there she saw her beloved friend who died to protect her.

Elaine wanted to get up. But her body refused to move. Her body felt so numb and she couldn't feel anything anymore except the pain she felt in her heart.

Why was this happening to her? Why was this happening to them? Elaine cursed the world for being born to a criminal Family like her.

She couldn't do anything. Elaine was helpless. And the only important person in her life, died before her eyes while trying to protect her.

The tears just kept coming down as the rain started falling from the sky. Her body was no different from a cold corpse as she too wanted to die already.

"!"

Elaine opened her eyes as the first thing she saw was a blur. But then, despite her body hurting so much, she still managed to smile as she muttered, "How long has it been? I thought I have already forgotten about this memory..."

Did she hit her head that hard to remember such a tragic past? Elaine suddenly thought about it. That one punch really put her in a tough position.

"Damn tree. Why is this tree so tough?" Meanwhile, seeing that Elaine had only rolled for a short distance, Janine cursed the blue tree where Elaine had bumped into as she continued, "This girl should still be rolling on the ground! It's really unfair!"

Janine walked furiously in Elaine's direction. She never thought that that girl would be so lucky enough to bump in a tough tree. Why was something like this didn't happen to her? Just what kind of luck did the other party have?

In any case, that tough tree was, of course, no other than the blue tree that rooted in a patch of land amidst a pond.

When Janine closed her distance near the pond, and as she stared at the seemingly dead body of Elaine who was lying on the ground, Janine scratched her head as she muttered, "Is she dead already?"

"She's probably unconscious," Jim replied to her while he was closing his distance towards Janine.

Of course, seeing that Janine had managed to land a blow against Elaine, he would definitely come to her and see what was the situation. Not only him, but even Ben was also walking together with him.

Janine glanced at them for a moment before shifting back her gaze to Elaine, "I only gave her a slight jab, is she really that weak?"

A slight jab? Hearing her, Jim and Ben suddenly felt a shiver especially Ben who had suffered seriously from Janine's punch as well. She called it a slight jab? Then, what was the killing intent she put into it all about?

Nonetheless, the two didn't speak a word as they shifted their gazes towards Elaine as well.

This girl suffered so badly from Janine. Ben felt pity for her especially when he recalled how badly he suffered from this brute. But then, this girl was the one who first made a move against them. It could be considered as a consequence for daring to make a move against them.

"So, what should we do now?" Ben suddenly asked. Now that they had gotten their revenge, Ben felt that his anger had subsided a bit. He had no will to fight that girl anymore especially upon seeing that the other party had no more strength to even stand up.

"What else can we do? Let's beat her up again!" Janine said furiously as she pointed her forefinger towards Elaine and as she continued, "Jim, hurry up and heal her!"

Jim suddenly felt a shiver then again. What was this brute talking about now? Was she crazy? Why in the world would he heal that lunatic? Even if Jim wanted to, his wariness against the other party just didn't allow him to do so.

But before Jim could even reply to Janine, Jim suddenly felt a strong but familiar presence approaching them from behind at an incredibly fast rate. Not only him, but even Janine and Ben had, of course, felt this as well.

That said, the three turned around to see who was coming at them.

And when they did, they finally caught sight of a person, no, a beast in human form who had just arrived. The other party was a middle-aged man as the three had immediately recognized him upon arrival.

Who else could it be other than Bantay?

When Bantay arrived, he immediately kneeled with one of his knees and then bowed his head down before he said, "Master."

"B-bantay?" Jim responded as he felt that there was no more problem with the other party anymore. Was Bantay finally been freed from the manipulation of that girl when they finally managed to beat her up? Jim thought that it might be the case.

"Oh? This beast still has the guts to come to us?" Janine cracked her bones on both of her fingers as she added, "Since I'm not yet satisfied, let me play with you."

Janine also wanted to beat this beast senseless. Her anger towards the other party seemed to not calm down yet as she wanted to take her revenge against him as well. That said, she didn't hear that the other party was calling Jim as his master. She only saw the kneeling of the other party as asking for forgiveness.

"Wait!" Jim hurriedly stopped Janine who was about to make a move as he informed, "I think Bantay is fine now. He is now not under control."

Jim was speechless. This Janine was really slow. Couldn't she see that Bantay was now kneeling on the ground and had no will to fight anymore? Or was her anger against Bantay really that great to the point that her eyes were now being blinded by it?

"Bantay? You mean this beast?" Janine put a doubtful look towards Jim. After a moment, she shifted her cold gaze to Bantay as she didn't speak any more words and as she observed the other party instead.

It appeared that there was really nothing wrong with the other party now. It was just a pity that Janine couldn't beat up that beast anymore the way she wanted.

"Yes," Jim replied to Janine as he nodded slowly. After which, he stared at Bantay as he asked, "What happened?"

Jim wanted to know what happened earlier when they parted ways. He felt that many things had happened to Bantay at the time when they were not together.

Jim really wished that Bantay could do what his Blood Minions were capable of. If Bantay's memories could just be transferred to him just like whenever his Blood Minions were coming back to his body, how convenient would it be rather than asking questions, right?

But instead of responding to Jim's question, Bantay pleaded to him, "Master, please heal Elaine."

Jim was taken aback when he heard those words. He could guess who the other party was talking about. Even so, he still asked, "Do you mean that girl?"

Bantay raised his head and stared at Jim seriously. His eyes were telling his determination as he replied, "Yes, master. Please heal her."

And when Jim heard that confirmation, not only he was taken aback. Even Ben felt the same way. Was this beast still under control? Or did he hit his head that hard as he couldn't tell what was right from wrong now?

"You, hear him? Hurry up and heal her!" Only Janine felt delighted when she heard Bantay speaking such words. She didn't care about whatever the reason the other party might be. All she wanted now was to heal that girl and then beat her up again.

Jim suddenly turned serious as he pondered about it. He gazed at Bantay's eyes as he asked, "Why? Who is that girl anyway?"

This girl tried to attack them and had actually let him and Ben choose who would be saved and be freed among them. Would Jim easily forgive that?

"Because she took all the six levels alone while the three of you were loitering around," Bantay replied boldly.

Six levels? What the heck was that? Jim couldn't understand a thing at all.

But loitering around? Jim suddenly felt his veins popping out on his head. Just who in the world was loitering around? Was this beast actually trying to annoy him now?